Windows 2000 Quick Fixes

I forgot the Administrator password

Forgetting the Administrator password can range from a nuisance to a complete disaster. If you’ve just performed a clean install of Windows 2000, forgetting the Administrator password you assigned during Setup is a nuisance—you can simply perform the installation again, losing an hour or so but no data or accounts. If you upgraded your previous installation or if you’ve been using the system for a while, forgetting the Administrator account can be a real problem. In this situation, recovering from the problem relies a lot on preparation before the fact. Even without any preparation, however, you can recover the system through the use of some third-party utilities.

Before you agonize over the lost password, take a few seconds to check for a simple mistake. If you’re relatively certain of the password but it won’t work, check the caps lock key. The password is case sensitive. If the caps lock key is off, try entering the password with it on. You might have inadvertently had the caps lock key on when you entered the password for the Administrator account during installation. If so, log on and change the password to be lowercase using the Users and Groups branch of the Computer Management console.

Use a different account

Hopefully, you have at least one other account that is a member of the administrators group. If so, you can simply log in using that account and change the password for the Administrator account using the Local Users and Groups branch ...